When We Get There
by milaek
Summary: We never know how long we'll have to wait, or how hard things will get along the way, only that we will know it when we get there. My second Dave/John fic! Whoo! This isn't at all related to my other story. Takes place in a non-sburb AU. Dave and John both attend high school in washington, and have been best friends since 6th grade. Dramatic things happen.
1. Chapter 1

Your name is John Egbert, and your best friend really needed to get his shit together. You sat at the counter in your kitchen, absentmindedly eating a piece of toast as you checked over your English paper. You flipped open your phone and checked the time.

7:30 am.

You sighed loudly to yourself, as if that would do anything.

But really you weren't all that annoyed. This had become a routine for the both of you.

You quickly went to the pesterchum app and clicked at the red username at the top of your chums list.

~~~~~~~~~~ectoBiologist began pestering turntechGodhead~~~~~~~~~~

EB: Dave.

EB: Dave wake up.

EB: Daaaaaaaave come on.

TG: mrf

TG: one of these days im going to install a snooze button in you egderp

EB: You're awake! :B

TG: ugh

TG: its too early in the morning for your derptastic emoticons

TG: seriously man

TG: dont you have any respect for the dead

EB: Daaaave you are not dead so shut up.

EB: Unless you forgot, school is still a thing we have to do.

EB: And it's not my fault you're too lazy to get an alarm clock like a normal person.

TG: shhh john im totally dead

TG: only more sleep can revive me

You rolled your eyes. You weren't quite sure how or when you had become Dave's personal alarm clock, but yet here you were coaxing the lazy bastard out of bed.

EB: You can sleep later! We have school.

TG: yeah now im so tempted to get up

TG: lets see

TG: school or nice warm bed

TG: hmmmmmmm

TG: that there is a really tough choice

EB: Oh come on Dave. Only a few more weeks and then winter vacation! :B

TG: what did i say about the emoticons john

TG: its creepy little eyes are now permanently affixed to my chatlog

TG: it will haunt me forever

EB: No, but I will if you don't get your butt out of bed

TG: wow you would go to all the trouble of killing yourself and becoming a ghost just to get me to school on time

TG: you are so committed john

EB: Yes, yes I am, though I'm still not sure why.

EB: Now come on. Math is first today, and you know Mr. Rhitin hates us already.

TG: fiiiiiine

TG: im heading out the door now okay

EB: Good! See you there!

TG: yeah se ya

~~~~~~~~~~~ectoBiologist ceased pestering turntechGodhead~~~~~~~~~~

You pushed your phone back into your pocket and grabbed your backpack off of the chair next to you. Dave could be such a high maintenance friend sometimes, but he was worth it. You two had been friends since the sixth grade when Dave had moved to Washington from Texas. Some older kids had been picking on you and had taken your glasses when he showed up out of nowhere and told them to give your glasses back. They had refused, but he just stood there between them and you, and had told them again. The oldest of the bullies had thought it would be a good idea to put Dave in his place as the new kid, and tried to punch him. Next thing any of you knew, Dave had grabbed his fist, and twisted it around his back into a painful looking arm lock. He made them give back your glasses, and made it clear they were to leave you alone. You had offered him some of the cookies your dad had packed for your lunch, and ever since then you two had been inseparable.

You laughed at the memory as you walked out the door. You two were now juniors at Lincoln Memorial High School and were still going strong.

You lived close to the school so you walked there, enjoying the snow dusted look of the town. You could practically hear Dave complaining about the cold and how Texas had been so much warmer and such. He had never quite gotten used to Washington temperatures.

When you finally arrived at the school the vast majority of the student body was hanging around, waiting for the school bell to ring.

"Yo John!" a voice shouted from behind you.

You turned towards the parking lot, and saw Dave leaning against his red truck, arm up in greeting. He was bundled up in a ridiculously large red jacket with brown fur at the hood which practically blended in with his car, making him almost look like a head floating a good 2 feet above black jeans. You smiled brightly and trotted towards him.

You stopped in front of him.

"Hi Dave!" you puffed out, the cold air turning your breath white.

The corner of Dave's mouth twitched up in the signature Strider smirk as he shoved his hand back into his pocket.

"Sup Egbert. Did you miss me?" he said teasingly.

You rolled your eyes.

"Yeah. I don't know how I survived those long twelve hours without you." You said sarcastically.

Dave reached out and ruffled your mess of black hair.

"Don't worry John, Strider withdrawal is a very common symptom. Lucky for you that you have your daily fix right here."

You laughed.

"Yeah lucky me. Lucky for you too though, because without me here I doubt you would ever get to school on time." you said.

Dave shrugged.

"School is over rated man. Who needs it?"

"Only people who want to live happy, successful lives Dave. Now lets go to class before you start complaining about the cold."

You could practically feel Dave rolling his eyes behind his ever-present shades as you began to walk towards the building.

"But Joooooohn," he whined slumping his forehead onto your shoulder as he followed behind you, "I'm too tiered to do equations."

"Dude you never do the equations anyways." You said, slowing your pace so that he didn't fall face first onto the ground.

"Not my poooint."

You two walked like that all the way to your class where Dave proceeded to pester you non-stop, making it so that neither one of you really did any math at all.

After school Dave pounced on you at your locker. You had just been put your history textbook inside when a pair of arms wrapped around your neck and pulled you backwards.

You yelped slightly, but it ended up sounding more like a strangling pig.

"Well THAT was an attractive sound." Dave said sarcastically from behind you.

"Well you surprised me!" you said, flustered.

Dave was taller than you by a couple of inches, so he could comfortably rest his chin on the top of your head, which he proceeded to do.

"You shouldn't be so easily surprised then. No wait I take that back because you sound adorable when you squeal like that."

"Daaave," you said rolling your eyes, "I'm not adorable."

He chuckled.

"Dude you so are. Puppies have nothing on the derpy adorableness of the Egbert. They look at you and think 'damn how could I ever top that' and then no one adopts them because they are too busy awing over you. You took those puppies' homes Egbert. How could you."

You laughed and Dave let you go so you could turn and actually converse with him.

"Anyways," you said once you were done laughing, "what brings you over to my corner of the lockers? Usually you scamper to your car and pester me once you get home."

"True, but I have a better alternative today."

You looked at him quizzically.

"Bro is out with his friends partying or something tonight. You wanna come over and play some kick ass video games? And of course I can try to correct your taste in movies. I mean seriously John. Con Air is shit."

Your face brightened.

"Sleepover?" you asked excitedly.

"Damn straight bro." he said, smirking at you.

You were elated. You two hadn't had a bro night in what felt like ages and Dave almost never let you go to his house. And honestly his bro scared you.

You bounced happily and grabbed him, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Yay! I'll bring popcorn!" you said excitedly, letting him go. "And Con Air is awesome dude."

Dave made a face.

"How you still think that after all these years I will never know."

You rolled your eyes.

"Daaaave."

He chuckled.

"Come on then. We can swing by your house so you can swap out your shit and then go."

You smiled brightly.

"Ok!"


	2. Chapter 2

You yawned and stretched as the credits of Con Air began to roll. You always did love that film. Dave had of course kept up a sarcastic commentary throughout, but you knew the movie enough that you didn't have to hear the words to know what was being said.

"Thank internal plumbing that's finally over!" Dave said from his seat next to you.

You laughed; tossing your can of soda over to the pile of wrappers that had been accumulating throughout the night.

"Internal plumbing? What does that even mean Dave?"

Dave shrugged.

"I don't know dude. Your stupid movie has begun to delete sanity from my mind."

You rolled your eyes and playfully punched Dave in the shoulder.

You thought for a second that he flinched away, but you chalked it up to your imagination when he started laughing and pushed you lightly, causing you to topple over the side of the couch.

You popped back up, jump tackling Dave with a ninja karate yell, and soon you two were a laughing mess on the floor.

You barely heard the door open over the laughter, but Dave was suddenly on his feet looking towards the entrance to the house.

The door was slammed open, and Dirk Strider rushed into the house.

"Sup bro?" Dave said, his face and tone completely flat. "I thought you were out tonight."

Dirk stalked into the room.

"I was. Plans got changed."

Dave raised an eyebrow.

"His time is up." Dirk responded to the unspoken question.

You saw Dave tense up instantly and you felt like the temperature in the room had literally dropped 30 degrees.

They must have adopted some sort of silent conversation through their sunglasses, because they just stood there staring at each other for what felt like several minutes.

"Um…" you said, shattering the silence. Both Striders instantly whipped around to face you and you suddenly felt very self-conscious sitting on the floor.

You cleared your throat.

"So who's time is up? And what does that even mean?" you asked awkwardly.

You felt some signal pass between Dirk and Dave,

Dave's pokerfaced stayed intact as he turned to you.

"Haha its nothing dude. Our dad got out of work and he's coming home, that's all." Dave laughed out.

You smiled awkwardly.

Dave seemed normal, but the atmosphere of the room was still frigid.

"Oh. Okay." You said nervously, "Do I finally get to meet the famous father of Striders?"

"Nah sorry little dude." Dirk spoke, his voice flat. "He's a busy guy. And sorry about the sleepover."

He seemed to direct the last words at Dave, who visibly slumped (well not everyone would have seen it but you had learn some of the subtleties of Dave).

"Huh?"

Dave smiled half-heartedly at you.

"It means the sleepover is canceled. Sorry dude. Bro and I have to get the house ready for him and stuff."

You frowned slightly. In all the time you had known Dave you had never been allowed to see his father, and it had started to make you feel as if Dave was ashamed to be friends with you. And the two have you had been so busy and you were really looking foreword to hanging out with him again.

"Oh. Okay then. I'll go grab my bag." You said, shuffling up to do just that.

Dave seemed to feel your disappointment.

"Hey, I promise I'll make it up to you okay?" he said, stopping you at the door.

You looked at the ground.

"Yeah sure."

"Hey."

You looked up at him.

He pulled you into a tight one-armed hug.

"Like I said," he said into your hair, "I'll make it up to you. We can hang out later."

You nodded as he pulled away.

Dirk checked the clock on the wall tapping his foot.

"Ok you guys. You can have a moment some other time, right now Dave and I have work to do." He said shuffling you towards the door.

You saw Dave smile halfheartedly at you before the door was slammed in your face.

You tried to think happy thoughts as you trudged home through the snow, clutching your overnight bag to your chest.

**A/N: **Hi guys! Second chapter up. Sorry it took so long. I have to write an evil five page bio for history. But fear not for I am alive and have the whole story planned out. Thanks to all the nice reviewers for being nice and awesome. 3

If you want me to post faster and don't normally review, then please do! Reading people's comments really motivates me. :33

~Ciao!


	3. Chapter 3

You couldn't reach Dave for the entire weekend, so you practically ran to school when Monday came around. You looked around the parking lot for any sign of his beat up truck, but all you could see was a sea of blue and white cars. You checked your pesterchum app for the 50 millionth time, but his chum handle was still listed as non-receptive. You waited in the parking lot until the last bell rang.

Dave wasn't at school for the next three days.

You had started to worry. What if he got really sick or was moving or what if you had said something that made him hate you? What if a dog had eaten him what if a murderer…

You walked into your class early on Friday with all of these possibilities floating in your head and gnawing on your brain. You would visit him but what if he was mad at you and didn't want to see you?

You almost didn't notice him through your internal panic, but you caught a glimpse of red in your peripheral vision.

You did a double take, and turned to see Dave already sitting at his desk with his red jacket still on.

"Dave!" you exclaimed, probably louder than you meant to, as you rushed over to his desk.

He looked up at you.

"Sup Egbert?" he said, as if he hadn't just fallen off the edge of the planet for four days.

You stood there speechless staring at him.

He raised an eyebrow at you.

"Where have you been?" you finally managed to ask.

Dave shrugged off your question.

"I've been sick."

You frowned. Dave had been sick before, but he never set his pesterchum to non-receptive.

"But I couldn't even contact you! Why didn't you tell me?" you asked, feeling the previous fear of him hating you resurface.

"Internet was down."

"Oh…"

The silence that followed was painful.

"So um… I got your assignments and stuff from our shared classes and I can help you catch up with stuff…" you mumbled as you pulled out a folder of papers and handed them to Dave.

"I'll be fine." He said, looking back at the board.

You shuffled awkwardly from foot to foot as you stood by his desk in silence. Your brain was whirling and he was acting really weird and you didn't like it and why wasn't he really talking to you?

Before you could say anything the bell rang, and students began to flow into the classroom.

Dave didn't look back up at you, so you shuffled over to your desk and sat down.

He didn't speak to you the entire class.

You kept nervously glancing at him hoping that he would suddenly turn back into your best friend instead of whatever this was. But he just stared straight ahead at the teacher's lesson without so much as a shift in his pokerface.

When the lesson finished he stood up swiftly, grabbed his stuff and headed towards the door. You frantically crammed things in your backpack as he left the room. Swinging your backpack over one shoulder you jogged up to him in the hall.

"Dave!" you puffed out.

He didn't turn to look at you.

In a move of desperation you caught his wrist and pulled, trying to get him to stop.

He instantly whirled and twisted his wrist out of your grip painfully.

"Don't touch me!"

Your heart plummeted as his stone cold face stared down at you.

"I-" your voice cut off as you felt your throat tighten.

You blinked rapidly, trying to keep the tears back.

You forced your voice to work.

"I-I'm sorry." You whispered out hoarsely.

You felt a tear slip down your cheek against your will.

You were so confused and you didn't understand what you had done to make Dave hate you so much so suddenly. You didn't understand why you were crying. You didn't understand why it hurt so much. You didn't understand why you felt so lost.

Another tear fell down your cheek.

And another.

The halls were empty now, and you vaguely heard the bell ring, signaling the beginning of class.

You didn't care.

You were in full-blown tears now, slight sobbing sounds seeping out of your throat as you desperately wiped your eyes trying to regain some semblance of dignity.

"I'm sorry! I don't know what I did but I'm sorry!" you managed out past your choked up vocal cords.

Dave just stood there in front of you, face unreadable.

Finally he ran a hand through his pale blonde hair and sighed.

"Look, you didn't do anything. Okay Egbert?"

"Then why are you ignoring me and why do you hate me?"

"I don't hate you its just… Look can we not do this here?"

You looked up at him confused. You had stopped crying.

Dave motioned at the hallway.

You flushed slightly, inwardly berating yourself for forgetting about class.

"Ok…" You said quietly.

Dave sighed again and, to your surprise, cautiously offered a hand.

You tentatively took it, scared that if you did anything he would suddenly revert to whatever the hell he had been.

He pulled you lightly by the hand down the hallway, and out of the doors of the school.

You shuffled behind him in silence. His hand was warm on yours, and it felt like the only link now between you and the security and warmth of the old Dave.

Dave finally stopped walking when the two of you reached his car. He withdrew his hand, and you surprisingly found yourself missing it.

Dave cleared his throat and you looked up at him.

"John, do you know how many friends I have?" he asked.

You stared at him quizzically.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Just answer the question."

You thought it over.

"Three, if you count me?" you said cautiously.

He shook his head.

"Rose and Jade don't count. For one Rose is technically related to me so she'd be some sort of sister or cousin figure. And I've never seen either of them in real life. Jade lives in the pacific somewhere and Rose lives in New York. I meant actual real life friends who I am close to."

You frowned slightly. You never really thought about it, but you had seemed to be the only one of Dave's school friends.

"One?" ye asked tentatively.

He nodded.

"That's right. One. I don't let people get close to me."

"But what about me?"

Dave sighed again.

"That's what the problem is. You're the exception. An exception I shouldn't have made."

"Oh." You said.

Because that didn't hurt. Not at all.

He glanced back at you, seemingly noticing your demeanor.

He swiped a hand through his hair again.

"Fuck. Look I don't mean that in a bad way. It's not that you're a bad friend. I should have just stuck to being alone."

You looked at him in confusion.

"Ugh. Look it's… Damn this is hard to explain. It would be better if we weren't friends. Get it?"

Your face fell.

"Oh."

Silence.

"So that's it then?" You asked finally, feeling the tears threatening to return. "We're not friends anymore?"

"For your sake as well as mine."

You couldn't form words anymore, so you just nodded.

"I'm sorry." He said.

You nodded again, and turned away from him. There was no way in hell you were going to go back to class right now. You would just go home and call in sick.

You headed off in the general direction of your house, tears silently falling down your cheeks.

You didn't look up from the sidewalk under your feet as you got further and further away from school.

You didn't see Dave watch as you disappeared down the road. You didn't see him turn and punch his car once you were out of sight. You didn't see the single cold, salty tear slip down his freckled face. And you didn't see the black and blue bruises on his arm when his sleeve was pulled back as he wiped it away.

**A/N: **Sorry for the wait guys! But the next few chapters should be up pretty quickly now that my stupid paper is done.

Oh you thought I was going to explain what the hell just happened? Hahahaha nope! Because this ladies and gentlemen is what I like to call PLOT DEVELOPMENT! X33

Reviews are loved and fed and given good homes in my laptop, so pretty please leave one if you have anything to say, be it good or bad, or just feels about the story. Makes me so happy!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Trigger warning- this chapter contains non-graphic abuse scenes. **

A day passed. Then another. Then four more.

Two weeks later it had finally sunk in that you were now without your closest friend. Your only friend.

But sadly we didn't come here to discuss your problems, because someone else's story needs some investigation. How about that ex-friend of yours? Yes I think it's about time we tune in on his life.

You are now Dave Strider.

You shut the door quietly behind you, trying to make your presence as unknown as possible. You car had broken down on the way home so you had to get it fixed. The repairs had cost $500. You knew what was going to happen when he found out.

"David! Get in here NOW!"

You cringed. You had hoped to put this confrontation off until tomorrow.

You walked into the main room of the apartment, dropping your bag in the hall as you went.

Sitting on the couch was your father. You cringed when you saw the pile of empty beer cans.

"Wha' the hell do you think you're out there spendin' MY money on." He said through a thick puff of smoke from the cigarette he was holding in one hand.

"My car broke. I had to fix it." You said plainly.

The slap was sudden and painful. You held your hand to your stinging cheek.

"Ya' din have to do anything! You lil' fucker spendin' all our money cuz you can' take care o' your shit!"

"It's a fifteen year old used car. I took care of it just fine!" you spat back.

In a flash he was standing and had you by the collar of your shirt.

You could smell the booze and smoke on his breath.

"Don' you talk back to me you whore!" he yelled, slamming you into the wall.

You couldn't touch your feet to the floor to gain any leverage.

"Ah' bet you din' break nothin' and just spent my cash on some cheap man slut to pound you into the floor you faggot."

You opened your mouth to respond but he moved his hand so he was holding you by the throat, almost choking you.

"You're a fuckin' disgrace. You're a worthless piece of gay shit that doesn't deserve to be alive. Ah' shoulda killed you when you was still a baby. Woulda been easy, and them damn cops wouldn't have any witness to convict me. Not like that damn whore shoulda' kept her fuckin' mouth shut."

"You raped her and beat her. You got what you deserved." You choked out.

He punched you in the gut and you crumpled to the floor.

"DON'T YOU TALK BACK TO ME BOY!" he yelled, kicking your head with full force and knocking your shades off of your face.

Your head snapped back and you felt the room spinning as pain overwhelmed your senses.

"You go an' spend my money and then come talk to me about that whore and ya' think ya' can get away with it? You've been to long without proper discipline, and that's a problem ah think ah've got a mind to fix." He said as he crouched over you loomingly.

You threw a punch at his face, but prison apparently had made him stronger.

He grabbed your hand and smiled eerily, showing his crooked teeth.

Then his elbow came down on your chest sharply and the air was nocked clean out of you. You gasped desperately for breath. Your father had always been violent, but drinking only made it worse. And in times like this you actually began to fear for your life.

You had let yourself get too weak while he was in prison for those 5 years. You had let yourself believe everything was going to be better.

A punch to your face hit you squarely in the eye and you reeled with pain.

He beat you for minutes, hours, maybe even years…you lost track. All you could feel was the pain.

Shallow cuts that were now dripping droplets of blood onto the floor, bruises forming over the countless others he had given you since he had arrived here after being let out of prison.

You couldn't even fight back.

Suddenly through your haze you heard the door bang open.

"Get off of him."

Bro had finally gotten home.

"Make me you li'l piece of shit!" your father yelled, lunging at Bro.

Bro was ready and caught him on even ground, dodging most of his punches, but landing none of his own.

You blearily sat up as the room stopped its spinning and sense began to flow back into your brain.

That's when your father pulled out a switchblade.

"Don' you dare get up you li'l-" he was cut off as Bro finally landed a punch square on his jaw.

As your father was reeling, bro turned his head to you.

"Run Dave. Get out of here and go somewhere safe!" he yelled at you.

"Oh no you don'!" screamed your father, renewing his attack.

Bro held him off.

"GO!" he shouted at you, "I can handle this just run!"

So you did the only thing your brain could process in the moment.

You ran.

You ran out the door and down the cold streets. You ran towards the only safe place you knew. Your dad had finally gone insane, crossed the line, and everything was going to hell. You needed to find your blue-eyed angel. You needed to find John.

**A/N: **So was that what you expected? Yes? No? I know I'm evil but guys its important okay? I love Dave and I promise that this is not a sad stuck! it may seem like its heading in that direction sometimes but I promise you the ending of this story will be a happy one, ok?

As always reviews make me want to snuggle all of you and shower you with kittens and puppies. 3


	5. Chapter 5

You are now once again John Egbert.

You had had a relatively bad day at school. It was still weird not having Dave there to joke with, to eat with, to be with. But you weren't going to let yourself dwell on that. Not much anyways. You had gone home right after school and flopped face first into your bed. You were tiered. Acting like you didn't care that your once best friend no longer talked to you was tiring. And to top it off you had an exiting weekend of doing nothing but moping around the house to look foreword to.

You sighed and let yourself sink into the pillows, not bothering to take off your glasses. Before you knew it you were fast asleep.

You dreamt that you were flying, soaring gracefully among the clouds. You flew down to a forest where you had lunch with Nicholas Cage, and were just about to meet up with Oprah for your pokemon initiation when all of a sudden Nick began tapping on the tree next to him.

You asked him what he was doing, but he just kept tapping. The tapping was louder than what you expected. And then it wasn't Nick tapping.

You blearily opened your eyes as you were awoken by the tapping noise.

It took you a moment to realize that the tapping was, in fact, not actually part of the dream.

You glanced over at your bedside clock to blurrily see that it was almost 10. Night had fallen while you were asleep.

You fumbled around your bed covers until you found your glasses and put them on, registering that the tapping noise was still there.

You stood up and glanced around your room for the source. It took you a few moments to realize it was coming from the window.

You suddenly felt panic seep into your foggy brain. Could it be a burglar? A murderer?

You cautiously peeked through the window and almost screamed.

There was a person crouched on your roof, tapping at your window.

You stumbled back, clasping a hand to your mouth, trying to figure out how to dial the police without getting killed.

And then you recognized the pale face hidden under the hood of the figure's jacket.

For a second you were convinced you were dreaming, but no, you were awake even after you pinched yourself.

You quietly went over to the window and slid it open, finding yourself face to face with none other than Dave.

"D-dave?" you managed out.

He made a quick motion with his head that looked like a nod.

"Can I come in?" he asked, his voice quiet and scratchy and not normal sounding.

You nodded, still in shock, and moved away from the window so Dave could climb in.

"What are you doing here?" you asked, bewildered.

Dave didn't answer, just stood facing the once again closed window.

"Dave?" your voice was even quieter now.

Finally he answered.

"I didn't know… where else…" he said in that cracked tone.

You realized he was shivering.

What are you talking about? Hell, why are you talking to me? I thought you said we weren't friends anymore and it's been weeks since you talked to me!" you said, anger starting to seep in.

Who the hell did he think he was? One day your best friend the next some cold bastard who didn't want you around, and then he was suddenly at your window when you had finally gotten over loosing your best friend?

He muttered something.

"What?" you asked, angry now at this invasion.

"I'm sorry." He said slightly louder.

"For what, abandoning me, ignoring me, or showing up at my house in the middle of the night uninvited?"

You saw him shiver again. No wait. That wasn't the right word. He was… shaking?

Your anger suddenly evaporated and you were instantly filled with concern.

Something was very wrong. Something was very very very wrong.

"Dave?" you said, voice shaking slightly, "Dave look at me."

He stood frozen for a moment.

And then slowly he turned towards you.

And you had to stifle a gasp.

His nose was bruised almost black and slightly swollen. Cuts lined his face, which was splotched with bruises and blood from his nose.

"Oh my god Dave what happened?" You asked, instantly rushing towards him and frantically trying to think of what to do.

"Can I sit down?" was all he said.

You nodded hurriedly and he slumped onto the floor.

You crouched down so you were eye level with him.

"What happened to you?"

Dave looked up at you and you suddenly realized that there were no shades between his eyes and yours.

His iris' shone red in the dim light from the moon. You stared at them for only a few seconds before returning to the crisis at hand, deciding to think about it later.

"My dad." He muttered out.

You gaped at him.

"Your DAD did this?"

He nodded.

You instantly went into full on panic mode, your mind reeling.

"Oh my god wait we need to call the police or something and your Bro were is he oh my god why would your dad do this what the hell."

"He always does this."

You stopped talking and stared at Dave.

"He what?"

Dave cleared his throat.

"My dad. He's violent. He got arrested for raping a woman about five years ago and Bro has been taking care of me since. 's why we moved here. He used to hit us a lot before that. But now he's back and got drunk and my got angry and he had a knife and…" Dave trailed off as tears began falling down his face.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"It would have made things worse."

Suddenly it clicked in your head.

"Wait! Is this why… you said we shouldn't be friends?" you asked him slowly.

He nodded as his silent tears continued to fall.

Slowly you raised your hand, lightly touching Dave's face.

He instantly flinched away at the initial contact, but you gently placed your hand on his cheek and he seemed to allow it.

"Dave look at me."

He did, tears reflecting the moonlight.

"I don't care. I want to help. So just let me be your friend okay? I have been for five years, I'm not about to stop now."

He stared at you in silence for a few moments.

You steeled yourself for harsh words, or explanations why you shouldn't be. But you were now determined to help him through this as a friend, whether he wanted one or not.

Instead he slowly nodded.

"Ok." He replied hoarsely.

You felt your heart bubble up accompanied by the trills of unfamiliar feelings.

You smacked them down. No homo, you were just really glad you had your best friend back. Right? Of course right.

You stood up slowly.

"You stay here okay Dave? I'm going to go call the police and tell them about your dad, and then I'm going to get some band aids and ice and some water for you, okay?"

He nodded again.

You turned to leave the room, but suddenly Dave's hand was grabbing at your wrist, pulling you back down to his level.

He pulled you into a light hug, and you didn't want to think about all of the bruises he was probably sporting under his jacket so you were careful not to touch him.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

"I said I would make cancelling that sleepover up to you but look at what I've done instead. I am the worst friend."

You shook your head.

"I don't care. You're my friend Dave and that's all that matters to me, ok?"

He nodded again, and carefully let you go.

You walked out of the room and went to awaken and explain things to your father.

**A/N: **Wahey look things are back up to speed aren't john and dave adorable? You see? Dave was just looking after john! YOU SEE?

Though it may seem like this story is nearing its end, I am sad (not) to tell you that this plot bump is only the first on the camel's back. Because I promised some John/Dave didn't I? So don't think you can put away those tissues quite yet. ;33

Reviews are still loved and I just like knowing that people are reading and enjoying or not enjoying but I just want to hear from you guys! :33 So review pretty please!


	6. Chapter 6

When you had finished explaining to your father the events of the evening he just nodded.

"You're taking good care of your friend John, I am so proud of you. You have truly become a good strong boy. I can talk to the police. I think in this situation it would be best if the adults handled things. You go help your friend get cleaned up." He said, re-adjusting the hat on his head.

You would have rolled your eyes at his "adult" statement, but honestly you were too tiered and worried to really care, so you simply nodded and marched over to the bathroom to get your family's surprisingly large amount of medical supplies. Why did you even have half of this stuff? I mean really was your father expecting a meteor to crash into your house or something?

You carried the supplies into your room where Dave was still just quietly sitting on the floor, staring into space.

"Dave?" you whispered quietly.

He moved his head slightly, acknowledging your presence, but other than that did not move.

You went and sat in front of him, setting the bandages and antiseptics out next to you.

Quietly you reached up to push the hood of his jacket off of his head. You winced involuntarily when you saw that some of his pale hair was stained crimson.

You pulled at Dave's hoodie sleeve slightly.

"I need to um… check for cuts 'n stuff so if you could…" you trailed off, blushing slightly at the situation.

Dave seemed to shake himself out of his stupor enough to let out a breathy laugh.

"Heh. That eager to get my clothes off Egbert?" he said, smirking slightly, but quickly going back to his solemn state.

You just blushed more.

"Dave! N-no! Come on I need to look for cuts! You could get infections otherwise!"

He smirked again slightly, but didn't say anything else as he pulled off his hoodie and his signature broken record t-shirt.

You felt something bubbling in your chest again as you watched, but pushed it down. It was nerves. Definitely nerves.

When his shirt was off, you looked at him for a few moments in awe. His skin was even paler underneath, but it was still dusted with cinnamon freckles. He was lean and not an inch of him seemed to have any fat on it. He was just bone muscle and skin.

But the beauty of his form was marred with countless bruises and scrapes and, to your horror, scars.

You reached out and carefully touched one of the smaller scars on his shoulder.

"Jesus Dave how did this even… How did no one ever notice?" and more importantly how did you never notice? You inwardly punched yourself.

Dave just shrugged half-heartedly.

"Sometimes when my dad has one of his outbursts something would get broken and bro and I would get cut. He wouldn't let us go get stitches even if it was pretty bad, so we just stuck it out. But then stuff never really healed very well, so henceforth the scars."

You didn't really know how to respond to that, so you just nodded quietly.

You took one of the antiseptic wipes you had, and found the first cut.

"Ok Dave this will probably sting a bit, but it should keep infections out." You said, looking up at his face.

He scoffed, but nodded nonetheless.

You carefully dabbed at the cut, and Dave hissed out a breath.

"Sorry!" you yelped, instantly pulling the wipe away from his skin.

Dave shook his head.

"Don't be. Just get the damn things clean."

You looked at him worriedly, but after a moment continued your work.

About 15 minutes later you had satisfactorily disinfected, inspected, and bandaged the shell of your best friend, who had remained silent save for a few pained hisses throughout.

Silence filled your room as the two of you sat there in complete silence.

Finally you stood up.

"So should I leave you alone for a bit?" you asked.

Dave shook his head.

You paused.

Then without thinking, as if by instinct, you leaned forward on your knees, and wrapped your arms around his thin frame.

He flinched at first, remaining stiff as you buried your head in his shoulder.

"John?" His voice came out cracked.

You just held him. You didn't have any words, or an explanation.

He stat there as you held him. And then, slowly, you felt his arms creep around you in return, and his head turn to burry his face in your hair.

His lips brushed the top of your head lightly, and had it been anyone else you would have assumed it was a kiss, but this was Dave, so it couldn't have been.

Though you had to admit it felt nice. Calming even.

The two of you sat there holding each other for what seemed to be an eternity, words unnecessary to communicate the mutual feelings of fear and comfort passing between the two of you.

You held each other until your father came through the door, followed by a large figure, one you instantly recognized.

Dave jumped up, and only then did you realize that at some point you had started crying, though with what emotion you were unsure.

"Bro." Dave whispered.

And indeed it was, in all of his Bro-like glory.

He opened one arm towards Dave, the other one in a white cast in a sling. You winced when you saw that it was slightly bloodied.

Dave rushed from your side, and was instantly clinging to his brother.

In all the years you had known the Striders you had never seen them show any sort of affection to each other. With all the other strange events of this night, you felt even more like it was all some strange dream.

Bro just wrapped his free arm around Dave, and held him for a few seconds before they let each other go.

You shuffled your feet awkwardly. The last thing you wanted to do right now was to let Dave out of your sight, but he and Dirk probably had a lot to talk about…

"Um… so do you two have stuff you need to talk about?" you asked, looking at the floor.

You could hear Dirk let out a sigh.

"When the cops showed up he took off." Dirk said, his voice flat, "They're looking for him though. He's going to prison when they do."

"Ok." Dave said.

"You did good little bro. We're ok. I need to work with the police, and get more stuff checked on this thing" Dirk said, signaling his broken arm, "so that will take a while. You and your friend should get some sleep, and we can go over this whole thing tomorrow."

You looked up to see Dave nod silently.

Bro wrapped his arm around Dave in a last half sort of hug before walking out of the room, followed by your father who hesitated only a moment in the doorframe to give you that fatherly look before exiting the room in pursuit.

You stood there for a moment before turning to Dave.

"So… uh we should sleep… like they said. You can use my bed, I'll just sleep on the floor tonight." You said, dazed and confused from this whole situation.

Dave just nodded again and silently went over to your bed, kicking off his shoes before flopping onto it.

You quickly scampered over to your closet and pulled out the spare blankets and pillow you had, before laying them out, turning off the lights, and curling up in them.

You lay there for a few minutes, trying to get your mind to shut off and go to sleep, but it was proving near impossible. Just as you were beginning to give up, you heard Dave's muffled voice from your bead.

"What?" you asked.

There was a pause and a shuffling of bed sheets before Dave spoke again.

"John... Look I… I don't want to be alone right now."

His voice sounded so quiet and un-Dave like.

You sat up.

"I'm right here Dave." You said, worried.

"You're not close enough."

You sat there confused for a moment before you finally understood what he meant.

"Oh! Sorry Dave! I thought you would want your space or something! Sorry I'm just not thinking very well and I don't know what I'm supposed to do and I-"

"Just get over here." He said, cutting you off.

You blinked, then climbed out of your little nest of blankets and tentatively went over to where Dave was lying on your bed.

When he put out his hand to you, almost like a puppy with a hurt paw, your insides turned to Jell-O, and you took it, crawling into the bed next to him.

Instantly his arms wound around you, pulling him as close as he could get to you, and he was burying his face in your shoulder.

You just wound one arm around him in return, and laced the fingers of the other with his. You didn't really think about it. It just seemed right. Natural. Perfect.

You were asleep within seconds, Dave breathing softly next to you, wound together as if this were how you were always meant to be.

**A/N: Hi guys! Sorry for the late upload. Finals were dragging me down, and I got a boyfriend who is leaving forever to the military in two days. Apparently I only write well when I myself am experiencing romance troubles. XPP I'll try to get the next chapter up sooner than this one was. As always reviews are cherished and loved and everyone who has read thus far I just love you guys, thank you so much for your support! **


	7. Chapter 7

The next few days were a blur, with policemen coming in and out of your house non-stop, questions being thrown at you and the Strider siblings. Dave spent the days at your side, accompanying you practically everywhere.

The first day had been the worst, with him waking up in a blind panic, and almost hitting you in the face in his fear. You had managed to calm him down, but he had spent the small portion of the day he was awake for in utter silence, shaking his head at the food that was offered to him, and flinching when anyone tried to touch him. He stayed up for only a few hours before tailing you back into your room and falling asleep with you sitting at the foot of the bed, unsure what you were supposed to do.

The second day was better, if only slightly. You had planned to sleep on the floor the previous night, but Dave had woken up slightly when you had gotten up to leave the bed, and held out his hand again, so you had just crawled under the covers with him, careful not to touch him inadvertently. You had woken up however with your and Dave's limbs entangled, having moved in your sleep. At least he didn't try to hit you that morning. That day, he had talked some, even played a videogame with you for a while and making a few jokes. But he still didn't eat, and he still wouldn't let anyone touch him.

The third day things started to resemble some sort of normalcy. The previous night you hadn't even tried to sleep elsewhere, just following Dave to your bed to sleep, and waking up in a tangled pile of limbs. Dave had to answer the questions of the police that day, and you sat next to him in the room as they talked. About half way through the talk his hand had slid over yours tentatively. You had almost jumped out of your seat. Other than when you woke up in the mornings to find yourself almost indistinguishable from Dave, he had refused to touch anyone, even his brother. You had stared at him, but he just stared straight ahead at the cop, his recovered shades once again blocking his eyes from sight. But after a few seconds you had turned back to the policeman, and silently wound your fingers around his.

This morning when you woke up, Dave was already awake, red eyes staring into yours.

"Hey."

You blinked, trying to get your vision to focus. Damn your stupid bad eyesight.

You reached over to your nightstand, and groped around for your glasses, finally finding them and pushing them onto your face.

Dave's sleep lined face snapped into focus.

He half smiled at you.

"Um… Hey." You said, unsure of how to respond.

Your faces were only a few centimeters away from each other, and you could feel the blush rising in your cheeks.

"You actually slept more than I did. I'm impressed Egderp." He said smiling, his eyes half lidded.

"I, um well I guess I was tiered." You mumbled.

Your brain was foggy, and Dave's smell was everywhere and enticing.

"Yeah I guess so." He said softly.

He seemed to be getting closer, millimeter by millimeter.

You opened your mouth to say something, but no sound came out.

You couldn't think past the warm fuzzy weight in your brain.

Dave's tongue darted out, licking his lower lip. It was bright against his skin, and you found yourself leaning in as well, eyelids drooping.

"John…" Dave murmured, and you could almost feel his lips moving as he spoke, breath ghosting over your own lips, his eyes now ruby slits that were gazing at you with something you couldn't quite place.

"John I-"

A loud knocking came from your door, and you jerked your head back, hitting it against the bedframe in surprise.

"Ffffffuck that hurt!" you said, holding the back of your head.

Dave sat up quickly, and went to open the door.

Your father was standing there, looking at you with the "language" look.

"Sorry…" you muttered as you cautiously stood up, trying not to get dizzy.

Your father cleared his throat.

"Son, I know that things have been hard on you lately. You've been doing so well. I want you to know that I am proud of you." He said.

You resisted the urge to roll your eyes.

"I was thinking that since Christmas is only a few days away that I would take you and your friend and his brother down to the shopping district to get us all in the Christmas mood! I have a new cake style I would like to try, so I need to pick up some ingredients anyways." Your father finished.

You blinked.

With all of this stuff with Dave's father going on, you had completely forgotten about Christmas.

You looked over to Dave who shrugged.

"Uh, sure. Sounds fun." You said.

Your father smiled at you.

"Good, good. I'll get the car started. You two get ready and then we'll go!" he said cheerily, walking out of the room.

You quietly walked over to your door and closed it, then turned your eyes to Dave.

"This is okay right? You want to go?" you asked cautiously.

He nodded.

"Might as well. I'm super fucking hungry all of a sudden." He said, patting his stomach.

You laughed.

"Of course you are! You haven't eaten in like three days! Honestly Dave."

His eyes widened slightly.

"What, seriously?"

You laughed harder.

"Oh my god Dave how did you not notice? Come on lets go so you can fill your food void." You chuckled out.

Dave stuck out his tongue at you, and went to grab his shades and a change of clothes. You grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom, changing quickly.

When you emerged again Dave was leaning against the side of your bed, red hoodie pulled over a fresh pair of black jeans, and shades perched on his face.

"Why do you always wear those things?" you asked without thinking as you put your dirty clothes into the hamper.

"What things?"

"Your sunglasses. I was just getting used to seeing your eyes." You said, realizing two seconds too late that this might be a touchy subject for Dave.

The room fell completely silent for a moment.

Then Dave spoke quietly.

"You saw them then. You know the answer."

"What? No Dave I still don't get it, your eyes are super prett- I mean nice." You said, trying not to offend him.

He raised an eyebrow above his shades.

"Really? You don't think it's freaky?" he said, voice flat.

"Well I mean it's different, but I think it's really cool! I was a little surprised at first, but they suit you really well." You said hurriedly, trying to read Dave's face and failing.

He stood there looking at you for what felt like hours.

Then he sighed.

"Well then. You'd be the first. It was one of my dad's favorite things to beat me for."

You gasped slightly. Even after hearing more horror stories about Dave's father when he told the police, the things that he had done still surprised and outraged you.

"Oh my gosh Dave I'm so sorry!"

He shrugged.

"I got used to it."

"You shouldn't have had to. Your eyes are beautiful and anyone who tells you different isn't worthy of looking at them." You said, crossing your arms angrily.

Dave stared at you.

You shuffled awkwardly.

"What? What did I do?"

He laughed then.

"God John you are such a derp. Only you would be so honestly derpy."

You frowned.

"I am not derpy!" you huffed.

Dave walked past you to the door.

"Dude you sooo are."

"Am not."

"Are too."

You rolled your eyes and Dave laughed and took your hand in his, dragging you out of your room behind him.

You didn't think twice of it. You didn't think either of what it meant that it felt normal. Perfect. Right. You just walked downstairs with him, and got into your dad's car, laughing the whole way.


	8. Chapter 8

Two days had passed, and it was now Christmas Eve. Dave had been ridiculously stupid and refused to let you buy him anything expensive for Christmas. But you had your secret weapon. Oh yes, you were going to win at Christmas this year. Which was totally a thing by the laws of bro-hood. Yup. Totally.

You had just finished wrapping your secret weapon, and begun looking for a place to hide it when you heard footsteps nearing your room. You spazzed and shoved it in your pocket, thanking the gods that it was so small. You had just enough time to turn and put on your best "no I totally wasn't just wrapping a secret present" face before the door opened and Dave walked in.

He and Bro were still crashed at your place at your father's insistence to Dirk that he was not going to throw anyone out during the Christmas season, and that it was his gift to give. Their father still hadn't been caught by the police, so Bro had accepted your father's invitation begrudgingly.

Although Dave had been putting on a brave face since he had shook himself out of his depression thingy (you didn't know quite what to call it), but you could tell that the whole situation was weighing heavily on him. Now that you had had some time to think on it, you remembered that when the two of you had first met, Dave had jerked every time you touched him, back then you just wrote it off as your imagination, but now you realized that it had been because of his father. It probably wasn't until three years into your friendship that you were able to give him a casual nudge without him cringing. It made you sad that it was back now. And although Dave denied it you knew he was scared, that the little child who was so afraid all those years ago was still in there, hiding from the monster that was all to real.

It was the hardest when Dave had nightmares. You would wake up to him tossing and turning next to you, sweat beading on his forehead. All you could do was snuggle into him and hold him close, hoping that it would pass.

Dave never woke up during these nightmares, and didn't seem to remember them in the morning, but you still worried. The only consolation was that when you pulled your arms around him and whispered soothing words to his sleeping form, he would become still and returned to what you hoped was a peaceful sleep.

You had never though you would see the strongest person you knew so helpless.

"Hey bro. What are you doing in here? Dinner is almost ready and your dad is about to blow a gasket over your absence." Dave said, leaning against the doorframe.

You jumped up, and looked around your room desperately for inspiration. Your eyes fell on your books, which were strewn all over your desk.

"I was, uh… just organizing my books! Yeah!" you said quickly, patting one of the books to emphasize.

A pale blonde eyebrow shot up from under Dave's sunglasses.

"Really."

You flushed. You were a terrible liar.

"Um yeah! You know, gotta get everything neat for Christmas!"

"Suuuure."

You stood there for a minute in awkward silence.

"So… uh…" you said, trying to change the subject, "Shall we go down then?"

Dave shrugged.

"Sure. Unless of course you want to keep organizing your books." He said, turning to look at your utterly messy desk.

"Um nah they're fine lets just go down." You said quickly, walking past Dave and pulling him out of the room.

Your father was pulling the meatloaf out of the oven as you walked into the room.

"Ah there you are son," he said, not turning to look at you, "Are you ready to eat?"

"Yeah sure dad."

"Good, good." He nodded towards the dining room, "You and your friend can go have a seat. I'll be there in a jiffy."

You nodded and pulled Dave into the room.

"Really?" Dave said as you sat down, "Who the hell says 'jiffy' anymore?"

You shrugged.

"No idea."

He laughed, and slid into the seat across from you.

You two talked for a few minutes before Bro joined you, swooping into his seat just as your father walked in with an array of food balanced on his arms like a waiter.

He quickly set down the array of food, and took the last seat.

You were pleased to note that the only cake was a tasteful strawberry angel food cake, which was an old family tradition, and not though up by the batter witch.

After a quick grace you all dug in, piling food onto your plates. Dave of course ate like he had never seen food before in his life, swallowing down four platefuls before finally sitting back in his chair contentedly. Seriously you had no idea how the hell he ate this much and still managed to be thin as a stick.

You yourself ate a much more reasonable portion. The talk around the table was pretty nice surprisingly, and you found yourself smiling.

Finally when dinner was over, you and Dave sat by the fireplace, joking about nothing in particular.

Dave was in the middle of a particularly interesting interpretation of Nic Cage in Con Air (he looked like a dying walrus and no Dave Nic Cage did not look like that he was cool shut up), when you saw a flurry of white out of the corner of your eye.

You jumped up and rushed to the window.

Outside against the dark sky you could see the light snow falling to the earth.

"Dave! Look its snowing!" you said in excitement.

"Dude of course it's snowing. That's all it ever freaking does here." Dave replied.

You frowned at him.

"Nooo Dave this is special! It's snowing on Christmas eve! It hasn't snowed on Christmas eve for years!"

Dave sighed.

"Oooh how very special. Now we can all be cold as well as jolly. Well colder I guess."

"Oh come on Dave! Its so pretty!"

Dave just huffed.

Suddenly and idea hit you.

You hopped back to Dave.

"Oh! Dave lets go walk! Come on it will be fun and we can see the snow better! Besides you probably need some exercise after eating all that food."

"What can I say John, I'm a growing boy."

You rolled your eyes.

"Come on!" you pleaded tugging lightly at his arm.

He sighed in defeat.

"Fine. But don't say I never did anything for you."

You jumped up happily and ran to get your shoes.

"Hey dad!" you called as you opened the door of your house, "Dave and I are going to go for a walk! We'll be back in a bit!"

"Alright son. I will be here with Mr. Strider."

You silently fist pumped. You felt like a three year old, but come on it was Christmas this was just like a story from a book!

Dave walked up to you, having donned his red hoodie and sneakers.

"Alright then bro, lets get this over with."

The two of you walked out of the house into the cold night.

You stared up happily at the falling snow, letting it cover your face as you walked.

You walked in silence for what felt like a long time, breath coming out in visible puffs against the cold.

Finally you stopped walking, the snow still falling around you.

"Merry Christmas Dave." You said, breaking the silence.

"Huh?"

You laughed.

"I said Merry Christmas!"

He looked at you blankly.

You smiled brightly at him, and then twirled around, staring up at the snow, blinking reflexively as it fell onto your glasses, some finding its way to your eyelashes.

"Dude you are such a derp." Dave said as you stopped spinning.

You giggled.

"No! Come on Dave don't you think its nice out? Its beautiful!"

Dave stared at you for a moment.

"Yeah, it really is." He said quietly.

He was still looking at you.

You smiled brightly at him.

Then you sneezed.

"Dude what the hell why didn't you wear something warmer?" Dave asked, walking up to you.

You shivered slightly.

Ok maybe it wasn't one of your smartest moves to forget to put on a jacket. It was like 20 degrees out.

"Hahaha I guess I forgot! Oops." You said laughing.

Dave sighed, and then he began fiddling with his jacket.

"Dave what are you-" you began to ask.

"Here." He said, pulling it off, and holding it out to you.

"What Dave no I'm not going to take your jacket!" you said, surprised.

"Dude you look like you're going to turn blue at any second, and while I know its your favorite color and all, freezing to death would not be worth it."

"But Dave you'll get cold if I take it!"

Dave shrugged.

"Striders are built differently. We can take more of what nature has to give."

You rolled your eyes because Dave was a big baby about the cold and you knew it.

"Dave no! Its your jacket."

Dave just looked at you.

You paused.

"You… really want me to take your jacket." You said finally, looking at him.

He nodded.

"Can't have my best bro freezing his tits off now can I?" he joked, but the humor felt flat for some reason.

You looked at him still.

Then you finally took the jacket from him, zipping it up to keep in the heat.

It was warm.

You reached into your pocket.

"Well if I'm going to use your jacket, then at least take this." You said, holding the small wrapped bundle out to him.

He looked at it.

"Dude, I told you not to-"

You shook your head, silencing him.

"No buts Dave! Take the present!"

Silently he took it from you, then carefully unwrapped it.

He just stared at it for a moment.

It was a small picture, really only about wallet sized, with a tiny little frame around it. It was a picture of the two of you from a few years ago, laughing with your arms thrown over each other's shoulders.

Dave had taken it, but then the camera fell and broke, ruining the film.

It had taken you ages to find a way to extract the photo.

Dave just stared at it.

"Do you like it?" you asked quietly.

He didn't respond.

"Dave?"

"You're an idiot."

You blinked.

Of all the things you had expected, that was not one of them.

"Um…? Why? Did I do something wrong?" you asked, slightly worried.

Dave ran a hand through his hair.

"I- no. Not… not really."

You looked at him.

"Huh?"

He laughed lightly, but somehow it wasn't funny.

"You are just too nice John. That's always been who you are, but it doesn't stop me from falling over and over and over."

You were thoroughly confused.

"Dave… you're not making any sense…"

"John do you remember the day we took this?"

You blinked.

"Yeah. It was the day we went to the fair. It was your birthday."

He nodded.

"Do you remember what happened before?"

You thought for a moment.

"You had been having fun until we went on that ride together, and then you just locked yourself in a bathroom and didn't come out for a while. I bought the shitty camera to make you feel better and we took this picture. Why?"

"Do you know why I went away?"

This was getting weirder and weirder.

"No?"

"It was because of you. You were just being so stupid and happy and selfless, and I realized that I really cared for you. It scared the shit out of me."

"…ok? So? Does this have to do with your dad?"

Dave just stared at you, and you started to feel uncomfortable.

Suddenly he grabbed your arms, pulling you towards him.

"You are the densest, most idiotic, most dorky person I have ever met, you're my only friend, and you are the nicest human being on earth. I tried to convince myself that it would only make things worse to care, but it never worked. I'm not going to drag this out anymore John. Do I have a shot with you?"

"I- what?"

"Do I have a shot with you?"

You gaped at him and suddenly your thoughts were tumbling, falling over each other.

Dave gay.

Dave was gay FOR YOU.

Your mind was racing, and all the things that hadn't made any since from the past few weeks all fell into place. The way he had acted sometimes the strange silences it all made sense and oh god what the hell were you going to do? You weren't gay!

But something in your mind suddenly started pushing at you. You started remembering all the times where something Dave had said had made your chest flutter, and how worried and protective you got over him sometimes, and how much it had hurt you when he had left as if he had ripped out a chunk of your heart and oh god the thoughts wouldn't stop coming at it was too much too fast.

You backed up, clamping a hand over your mouth. Your thoughts were moving too fast and you were starting to get dizzy. You could see Dave's face change to one of panic.

"Oh god John I'm so sorry! Look its fine its fine, just pretend I never said anything shit I'm sorry this was a horrible idea-"

Your brain shut him out. His voice was so worried and it made your heart hurt but no there was no way, he was a guy and your best friend and oh god.

You pushed him away.

"I need some air!" you managed to squeak out before your brain took over and you were running as fast as you could away from Dave.

You needed to get out. You needed to find a small place to have your mental break down and figure out what the hell was going on inside your head.

You ran down streets, turning where you could, barely paying attention to your surroundings.

You didn't like guys. But Dave was so…. You didn't have words. He was funny and he was the best guy you'd ever known. Thinking that his father could have ever hurt him made you almost physically ill. When you had thought he hated you it was like your chest was trying to eat itself from the inside out. Under any other circumstance you would say you were madly in love.

You kept running, breath coming out in short bursts. You could hear footsteps, behind you.

You weren't gay. That was something you never saw yourself as being. Not that there was anything wrong with being gay, it was just… just what? Different? Scary? Something you had never considered yourself as ever? But Dave…

You rounded another corner, seeing a straight line of street in front of you. You kept running.

Dave was different. He was amazing. And the feeling of him in your arms from nights before just felt so right. The though of his hands pulling yours suddenly made your face heat up. Your heart raced before, but now you were starting to realize why. You were attracted to Dave. It was terrifying.

You ran down the sidewalk, and began to run across the street.

Suddenly light was blasting into your face from the left.

You turned and saw headlights glaring down at you, just as you heard Dave call out your name from behind you.

Time seemed to freeze. You couldn't move fast enough. Through the lights you could barely make out the person in the drivers seat. His face looked familiar. He looked like Dave… or Dirk…. Or both of them.

In that split second you realized it could be no one other than Dave's father. And he was smiling.

Then suddenly you felt a strong force ram into you from behind, knocking the air out of your lungs. Pain erupted through your body and you were thrown onto the cold hard ground. The world went white.

Then the lights faded away as the car skidded off.

You couldn't breath.

You gasped for air, and your head spun.

Everything hurt.

Slowly the world stopped spinning.

You could breathe, but it hurt.

You were alive.

Nothing was too painful to move.

Slowly you pulled yourself up.

How the hell had you made it through that?

You must have been faster than you thought.

Or.

Slowly you took in your surroundings.

The car hadn't hit you, but something had.

Then you looked up, and you saw something a few feet away from you.

Something large and bulky and exactly where you should have been.

You couldn't quite tell.

Something wasn't right.

And then you saw it.

Right at your feet were the shattered remains of dark sunglasses.

The snow was stained red with small flecks of…

You felt your stomach turn to ice as you jerked your head to look back up.

Oh god.

Dave


	9. Chapter 9

"Dave!" you shrieked as you scrambled to your feet.

There was no reply, and your blood turned to ice.

"Nonononononono" you breathed out as you rushed to the lump on the ground.

You knelt by the shape and oh god there was blood everywhere.

You didn't want to believe that it was him. You wished it was anyone, anything, else.

But the identity of the person lying on the ground in front of you was unmistakable.

You reached out a hand towards Dave, frantically trying to figure out what to do.

"Dave, wake up, look at me please!"

You tore off his jacket, which you had still been wearing, as you desperately searched for the source of the blood.

There was a gash on the side of his head, and several deep cuts on his torso. You pressed the jacket to the latter of these, trying to stop the heavy blood flow.

"John?"

You sucked in a breath as you reached down, hurriedly brushing the blood streaked hair out of his face.

His eyes were barely open, ruby slits looking at you hazily.

"Dave! Dave Dave Dave oh my god."

You couldn't seem to make any other words come out.

You felt a cold hand on yours.

"Jo..hn. Are… Are y…ou…. Alr….alri..ght…?" Dave wheezed out, voice hoarse and quiet.

You could feel tears at the corners of your eyes.

"I'm fine don't worry about me! You're hurt!" That was the understatement of the year.

Dave coughed and more panic flooded your veins when you saw blood dribble out of the corner of his mouth.

"Dave! Don't try to talk ok? I'm gonna call an ambulance!"

Dave made a movement that looked like nodding, and his hand slid off of yours. You desperately searched through your pockets until you found your cell. Your hands were shaking as you dialed.

"Hello this is the police department. Please state your emergency."

The calm of the receptionist's voice did nothing for your nerves as you held the phone to your ear.

"My friend got hit by a car and he's bleeding and I don't know what to do!"

"An ambulance has been dispatched to your location. Please stay on the line."

"Okay, what do I do?"

"Try to stop the bleeding. Put pressure on the areas that are bleeding the most profusely, but don't move your friend. Keep your friend conscious and talking."

"Ok."

You set the phone down next to you and reached out to brush stray strands of hair from Dave's face.

"Dave. Dave the ambulance is on its way. You need to talk to me ok?" you said, trying to keep your voice from wavering.

"Hurts… to talk." He muttered.

"I know Dave, but you just have to ok?"

His eyelids closed as he coughed again.

"Dave! Dave look at me! You have to stay awake!" you said, panicking.

When Dave didn't respond you cupped his face with your hand, trying to rouse him.

"Dave! Dave come on!"

"Mmnhh…. John…" he murmured, his voice even weaker that before as his eyes barely opened.

"Hey, hey I'm right here Dave. Shhhh Its going to be ok." You whispered to him, trying to convince yourself as much as you were trying to convince him.

In the distance you could hear sirens.

"Jo…hn…'m sorry…"

You could feel the tears start to spill down your cheeks.

"What? No don't be sorry! You don't have anything to be sorry for!"

"If… I had…n't… said… th…is wou…ldn't ha… have happ…ened…"

Dave coughed again. Blood was starting to bubble up out of his mouth when he talked.

"Dave no its not your fault I was stupid I'm the one who should be sorry."

Dave's hand found the one you were holding his face with.

Cold fingers weakly brushed yours, and you tried not to notice the blood they left behind.

"No… J..ohn… I…"

He coughed again, grimacing.

"Dave…" you trailed off, staring at him. After all this he was still only worried about you. And you had been too stupid to realize both of your feelings.

You squeezed your eyes shut, trying to stop the tears. Then slowly, carefully, you opened them again and leaned down to pressed your mouth against his.

You didn't want to think that this might be your first and last chance to do so.

Dave made a strange sound when your lips pressed against his and he went rigid. Then, slowly, his body fell limp again and he sighed against your mouth. Slowly you pulled back, ignoring the metallic tang now in your mouth.

Dave's eyes fluttered shut again as his fingers tightened on your hand.

The sirens were loud now, and you could see lights in your peripheral vision.

"I love you." You whispered, a tear falling from your cheek to splash against Dave's.

Dave didn't respond.

"Dave?"

Dave didn't move.

"Dave?"

Fear hit your lungs like ice water.

"Dave! Dave wake up!" you yelled, trying to nudge his head.

When your hand moved his bloodstained singers slipped from it and fell to the ground without resistance.

"DAVE!" you screamed, drowned out by the sirens of the ambulance as it pulled up next to you.

People jumped out, and pushed you out of the way.

Someone leaned down to listen to his chest, then yelled for a stretcher and some other things you didn't understand the names of.

You sat there, frozen with equal parts shock and fear.

More people knelt by Dave's body, and your vision was blocked.

You couldn't hear anything.

He couldn't… he couldn't be dead.

Dave couldn't be gone.

There were more shouts from the paramedics, and then there was a stretcher pulled into view.

Dave's body was lifted up onto it by three of the paramedics, and a mask was placed on his face.

One of the paramedics then went over to you as the stretcher was loaded onto the ambulance.

"Are you his friend?" she asked in a calm professional tone.

You nodded, unable to form words.

"Alright. Would you like to come to the hospital with him in the ambulance? He needs all the support he can get right now."

You looked at the ambulance again, and then nodded.

The paramedic tousled your hair, and then led you to the back of the ambulance.

"Do you have his or your parents' phone numbers?"

You nodded again.

"Ok. Once we get to the hospital can you write them down for us? We need to contact whoever has legal charge over him."

You stepped into the back of the ambulance, and the paramedic closed the doors behind you.

You sat down out of the way of the other paramedics who were crowded around Dave's body.

You had to look away when they brought out the needles.

You were more afraid than you had ever been in your life.

You finally let yourself cry, sobbing into your hands.

The female paramedic sat next to you, and put a hand on your shoulder.

"We're doing everything we can to help him. You'll get through this." She said softly.

But you weren't sure if you could get through it.

It felt like part of you was dying right alongside Dave.

It was killing you inside.

**A/N: Ok, first off don't kill me with rocks ok! Though it might seem like it, this is not the end of the story. I would guess that there are about 2-4 chapters left to write. And thank you all so much for the positive feedback! Even those of you who want to chop my head off for killing/injuring Dave. Your wish to cause me harm shows me you care! Jk please dont hurt me... XP**

**Anyways this SHOULD start updating more frequently now. Apparently I'm only able to write consistently when my romantic life is rolling around on the floor and dying. (Read as; milaeks boyfriend broke up with her and so she's drowning her sorrows in writing fan fiction).**

**As always i will love and cherish and guard jealously any reviews you guys would be so kind to give me. Like seriously. It makes me so happy you don't even.**


	10. Chapter 10

You sat in the hospital's waiting room. Everything was white and smelled like antiseptic.

You had arrived about 50 minutes earlier and Dave had been rushed into surgery. The paramedic had called both your father and Dirk and you had told them about how his dad had done it. The police had been called and your father was on his way. Dirk had been forced to stay at your house with some police officers in case his father targeted him next. Your dad was stuck in traffic though, and wouldn't arrive for about an hour.

You were alone.

You just sat there in the waiting room, feeling nothing but coldness.

One of the doctors had offered to look at the cuts and scrapes you had gotten when Dave had pushed you, but you had declined. It was more important for them to look after him.

The nice paramedic from the ambulance had gone to attend to other patients, and now everyone was just walking by, going about their lives.

Dave could be dead for all you knew and everyone else's worlds were still going. By your logic the universe should have ended by now.

The big white doors opened, and you looked up as a nurse walked towards you.

Instantly your stomach turned to ice.

"John Egbert?" she asked, reading your name off of a clipboard.

"Y-yes that's me." You stuttered, unable to access the parts of your brain that were functional.

"You are here as a friend of Dave Strider, correct?"

"Yes. How is he? Is he ali- ok?" you asked, stopping yourself from asking the unspoken question you had been fearing for the past 40 minutes.

She scribbled something on her clipboard.

"The doctors did the best they could." She said, and your whole chest seemed to freeze, "Dave is very weak and it will take time to see if he will truly recover, but for the moment he is stable."

You let out a choked sob as your heart seemed to start again, beating frantically as if to make up for lost time.

"Oh my god. Can I see him?" You asked, frantic to see him for yourself, to confirm that he was really truly alive.

The nurse squinted her eyes at you, and studied her clipboard again closely.

"Yes, but he isn't conscious right now, and as I said before is in a very precarious state." She said finally.

"Ok."

"Then if you will follow me please." She said, leading you to the 'authorized personnel only' door.

You quietly followed her through the door and down the cold white hallway. Finally she stopped beside a door.

"This is his room."

You swallowed and pushed open the door.

It, like everything else in the hospital, was white and plain.

In the center of the room was the bed with a heart monitor and IV's. You had to force yourself to look at the bed.

Dave was lying in the center, small bandages covering the scratches on his face, and gauze wrapped around his wrist. You could see the outlines of more gauze under the cover that was over the rest of his body.

You quietly approached the bed, hearing the dull beeping of the monitor going so much slower than your own racing heart. When you reached Dave's side you stood there looking at him. He looked so vulnerable without his shades; eyes closed and lips softly parted to breathe. You sat in the chair next to the bed awkwardly, aware of the nurse's eyes on you.

Slowly you reached out your hand to him. You saw it shaking involuntarily and took a deep breath to try to steady it. Then you gently took Dave's non- bandaged hand in yours. Though it wasn't as cold as it had been before, it was still too cold to be natural. You squeezed it lightly, as if you could somehow transfer the heat of your body to his. You were overcome with a strong urge to hold him, to pull him close and shield him from the world. But you couldn't, so instead you just sat there with your hand around his.

"Hey Dave," you said quietly, "I don't know if you can hear me right now, but I wanted to tell you…" you trailed off.

What did you want to tell him? That you had been a world-class idiot? That you were sorry that your stupidity could have cost him his life? That seeing him like this felt worse than anything you could have ever imagined?

"I wanted to tell you I miss you." You said finally. "I miss you and I have to apologize for everything that has happened and tell you everything else I was too scared to tell myself until tonight. So you have to get better. You have to get better so I can look you in your stupid beautiful red eyes and tell you how much I care about you and how much you mean to me."

You felt a tear slip down your cheek, surprising you. You had been sure that there were none left.

You quickly wiped it away with your free hand.

When you re-opened your eyes you almost had a heart attack.

Dave was looking at you; eyes only barely open, but open nonetheless.

"Dave?"

He blinked slowly, squinting slightly as if trying to focus.

"J…ohn?"

His voice was cracked and weak, but it was his voice and oh god you had thought you would never hear it again.

"Dave! Oh my god you're awake! Are you feeling ok?" you asked, words rushing into one another in your excitement.

"No… Every…. Thing… hur…ts…" he said, and his hand twitched in yours as if he were trying to use it.

"Don't move!" you said quickly, looking over at the nurse who was now busily paging someone and making notes on her clipboard, "Shhhh the doctors will take care of you ok?"

"Don't like doctors…" Dave said, his breath getting faster.

You looked worriedly at the nurse who was still writing away, then back at Dave, brushing some of the stray hair out of his face.

"Shh its ok Dave I'm here I'll make sure everything is ok, shhhhh." You rambled, nervously stroking his hair.

The heart monitor was speeding up.

"My chest really hurts… John…"

You could hear people rushing towards the room.

"Dave come on Dave shhhhh just breath oh god please don't leave me not again," you said, panicking.

Then you thought of all the things you couldn't bear to not tell him. You couldn't keep on letting them go unsaid.

"John…" Dave whined as the heart monitor continued to creep up.

"Dave, Dave I love you. I have to tell you. Please don't leave me."

Dave stopped squirming and then stared at you for what seemed like an eternity.

Then a pair of hot lips were pressing desperately against yours.

You made a small noise in the back of your throat, but Dave was unrelenting, pulling you down by your shirt collar with his unharmed arm.

And then you were being torn away by someone behind you and the nurse was pushing Dave back onto the bed.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? He is in a critical state right now!" the person behind you yelled.

You turned to see that it was a man in a white coat. The doctor.

"I- uh I didn't-" you began to protest, but he cut you off.

"I don't want to hear it. Get out of here you bastard!" he yelled crossly, turning away from you to face Dave.

The nurse started to push you out of the room.

The monitor was beeping ridiculously quickly and flashing red.

"Dave!" you yelled out, scared again that this might be it, this might be the last time you saw him, "Let me go! Dave!"

The nurse almost had you out of the room when the both of you were stopped by a growling sound.

You turned to see the doctor being held at arms length from Dave, and Dave was sitting up baring his teeth.

"Don't touch him!" he growled out.

"Excuse me?" the doctor almost yelled.

"I said don't touch him!"

You stared at him, still blocked by the nurse.

"If you make him leave this room I swear to god I will let myself die on you, do you hear me? And you don't need another lost patient on your list. So it's your choice. Let him stay, or loose your fucking job." Dave growled at him.

You couldn't blink. You couldn't even talk.

What the hell was Dave thinking? Was he insane? He was literally dying that very instant!

The doctor stared at Dave.

"You're insane! Nurse, get the sedatives!"

Dave gripped his collar tighter.

"Is this a risk you're willing to take?" he asked, breathless.

You could hear his breaths becoming more and more shallow and you were getting even more scared.

Then the doctor finally relented.

"Fine! The kid can stay, but if I see anything like that happen again without permission from a doctor first then he is banned." The doctor yelled.

And just as instantly as he had begun his aggressing, Dave was being pushed back on the bed, and the doctors were sticking needles into his arm.

After minutes passed the heart monitor finally fell back to normal, and the other doctors all left.

You sat back down in the chair next to Dave, who was once again unconscious, and let out a long sigh.

Carefully you took his hand in yours again, and held it as you slowly began to drift off.

**A/N: Hahahahahaha oh my god Im so proud of myself I actually got most of you to believe I was going to kill off Dave! He is my favorite oh my god I could never kill him! 3 Thank you sosososososoooo much for all of the positive feedback this story is getting. Its amazing to hear that people are actually reading and LIKING things i'm writing. 3 3 3**


	11. Chapter 11

A week passed, and Dave was released from the hospital. Your father had arrived late the first night and Bro had gotten there about a day after. This time the police had caught their father who was now looking at life in prison for attempted murder, and Bro had been given legal custody over Dave until he turned 18. You had spent most of your time during the week at the hospital by Dave's side playing cards or just talking. Of course the doctors watched the two of you like a hawk, but on occasion the nurse attending Dave was the paramedic from the ambulance, and she made a habit of announcing that she was going step out to answer a text and that she would just assume that the two of you had continued your game when she returned, giving you a sly wink as she stepped out of the room. Of course whatever game the two of you were playing was instantly abandoned when this happened, and almost the instant she stepped out of the room Dave's hands were pulling your face towards him for a kiss. You reveled in the snuck kisses, but the times when they could happen were few and far between.

But Dave was finally released at the week's end, walking out of the hospital with only a little support from you and Bro. When the three of you arrived at the Strider apartment, Bro told you he was going down to the city hall to wrap up some paperwork.

"But," he said, "I need you kids to be responsible. Dave still isn't in peak form yet, so just keep it in your pants ok?"

Dave buried his face in his hands.

"Oh my god. We are NOT having this talk now. Please tell me I'm just hallucinating this and that this incredibly realistic trip induced by painkillers and it will be over in two seconds." He muttered.

Bro just shook his head.

"Now Dave I know teen hormones are very powerful but, -"

"Yes ok, I get it. Don't fuck my boyfriend 'till I'm 100% healthy. Got it. Now will you shut up?" Dave said, cutting Bro off.

Dirk smirked, patted Dave's head, then left, shutting the door behind him.

You laughed as Dave sighed.

"Oh my god Dave you should see your face right now! I didn't know Striders could blush!" you teased.

Dave turned redder, the tips of his ears flushing along with his cheeks.

"Shut up." he muttered, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

You smiled at him.

"Sooooo, boyfriend huh?" you asked teasingly.

"Yeah well I figured it was better than 'the dork who is a buck-toothed idiot that for some reason I spend time with and we make out on occasion and I have all the homo for him, like seriously its like a one man pride parade over here kind of homo not that lame half ass metrosexual homo'. As much as that rolls off of the tongue it might get a little hard to say every time I want to refer to you." He replied smirking back at you.

"Hmm… You know, I think I can deal with that." You said, stepping closer to him.

"I was hoping that's what you'd say." He said, wrapping his arms around your waist, pulling you in closer.

You grinned and pressed your lips against his lightly.

"So then what should I call you?"

"You mean other than 'that ruggedly handsome and really cool guy with the shades who put his perfect ass on the line for his derp of a boyfriend who wasn't his boyfriend at the time and just really is the most amazing guy who ever lived oh and also I'm madly in love with him'?"

"Hehehe yeah, I think boyfriend will do just fine."

Dave fake pouted, but you kissed it off of his face.

"Seriously though," you whispered, "I love you."

Dave kissed your forehead.

"I love you too Egbert."

When school started back up after Christmas break was over, the two of you walked into school together (in more than one way). No one was surprised when the two of you showed up holding hands, and when senior year rolled around the two of you were voted "best couple" after you went to (and pranked) Prom together. But that was a story for another time.

**A/N: And thats it folks! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. So as an update on "what the hell milaek is doing next", I'm planning to write a short one-chapter sequel to When We Get There. Buuuutt its going to be a bit NSFW, so I'm going to put it up as a different story. That way no one's eyes will accidentaly get burned. After that, I'm planning on starting up another fan fiction (i have a poll out on the type) so fear not! I will still be here posting stories about gay boys who dont actually extist. **

**... **

**what is my life?**

**Anyways i'm also thinking about doing chapter drawings for WWGT, so thats a thing that might happen. It'll be on my deviantArt if it ever happens, so yeah. ninjahampster326. whoooo. *cough***

**Anways thank you all so much for the love! See you soon!**


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